Kolkata: Former West Bengal minister Partha Chatterjee, arrested by the central probe agency in connection with the School Service Commission recruitment scam, suffered a major setback on Thursday as a CBI court rejected his bail plea and extended his judicial custody till January 19. . The special CBI court judge also asked the central probe agency to expedite the probe in the case. Opposing Chatterjee’s bail application, the CBI’s counsel claimed that investigation was on to trace the money, which had allegedly been used to give teaching and non-teaching jobs to ineligible candidates in West Bengal government-sponsored and aided schools. changed hands and he is an influential figure.
Chatterjee’s lawyers submitted that he was falsely implicated and was not aware of the day-to-day functioning of the five-member committee, which was appointed to oversee the appointment process of the 2016 panel to recruit teachers for classes nine and ten. was established for. and Group C and D staff in schools run or aided by the State Government.
Chatterjee was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on July 23 after a huge amount of cash, jewelery and property papers were seized from the apartment of his alleged close associate Arpita Mukherjee. He was taken into CBI custody on September 16 on the court’s orders.
He held the education portfolio between 2014 and 2021 when irregularities were alleged to have taken place in the recruitment of teaching and non-teaching staff in state government-sponsored and aided schools. The Calcutta High Court ordered a CBI probe into the irregularities, following which the ED also launched an investigation into alleged money transfers in the scam.
After his arrest by the ED, the Mamata Banerjee government relieved Chatterjee of his ministerial post. When he was arrested, he held several portfolios including Parliamentary Affairs, Industry and Commerce. The Trinamool Congress also removed him from all posts in the party, including that of its general secretary.